Not that I was hell-bent on publishing another blog post. However, since I was housebound until craftsmen had done their work in our flat, I decided to read a bit on the internet which I had not done often lately. Still, it seems to me a pretty boring matter to get back on the internet after having experienced LIFE, real LIFE that is a gift from God, divine LIFE that cannot be conferred on anybody, esp. not in such an artificial place as the internet is. Presenting truths to people whom we most probably will never ever come to know personally in this life time has become a frustrating experience over the last months (years?) to me. Having said this, you might wonder why I keep writing, though.

Honestly, I don’t know. I do not even claim to be Spirit-led right now while jotting down these lines. All I want is to tell you that God is indeed faithful! Not that I always trust Him, still. Not that I have been perfected in any area of spiritual things yet. Not that I have reached the goal of drawing all my inner life off Christ, either. No. But what I have come to realize more and more is that God ALWAYS keeps His promises. We might have to endure long times of waiting on Him, we might doubt Him very often, we might suffer, be anxious, full of sorrow or worries. BUT GOD… Our real life, eternal life here on earth in the sense of John 17:3 begins when God takes away the sting of death. We read,

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (Jn 17:3 ESV)

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 54-57 ESV)

The sting of death is not only the fear of death. Instead, it can be found in everything we experience. Whether it is a wonderful or a very bad situation we find ourselves in, we can be sure that we cannot hang on to it. Observing life and situations passing me by lately, I have strongly felt the pain of not being able to ‘save’ the good things somehow and, on the other hand, I felt relief as I could eventually let go of some pain that kept tormenting me. Nonetheless, even in the latter case, I found myself in bondage of time and space, in bondage of the situation that affected me. However, eternal life is sooo different from our normal life! IN Christ we may sense that everything we have experienced and will experience in the days ahead is no longer ‘dead’. We are not bound by keeping in check what cannot be controlled by us. Even, we will no longer be in fear of letting go of loved ones as they leave us. We might still cry and long to be with them. BUT there is SOMETHING that God might bestow on us, a special comfort no human being could ever offer, the comfort of His peace that goes beyond our tears, beyond our restricted time, and beyond the need to touch someone physically.

There is SOMETHING spiritual that pulls our spirits into the eternal kingdom of Christ and joins our hearts with those whom we love, even when they are far away. Being inside Him, life is always eternal and not complicated at all. We share the joy of God, the simple joy of a child of God that trusts Him without any reservation.

It is only our captivity in Egypt (the rule of the flesh) or our continued wandering through the wilderness without arriving in the Promised Land that might keep us from living IN Christ right now. Faith is key here. With God-given faith we will be born into the kingdom of God, into the Promised Land where our souls are revived by the Spirit of God Who NEVER changes. Our circumstances might change, though. They might turn into situations we would have never chosen on our own. But living IN HIM, these outward things do not matter to our inward being any longer because then our LIFE, which is Christ, flows like a river inside us and one day even out of us, too (see Jn 7:38). We know that the kingdom of God cannot be observed on the outside (cf. Lk 17:21). And so it is with Christ and Christianity. What we can see, hear and observe on the outside is Christianity, what we perceive on the inside with our enlightened eyes of the heart, instead, is Christ and His eternal kingdom.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18 ESV)

Christianity is a religion where people talk a lot, whether it is the preacher, the teacher, the theologian, or the Christian blogger… 😉 Yet we should remember that “the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20 ESV)

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22 thoughts on “Christianity does not equal the Kingdom of God”

What you have mentioned reminds me of what happened to me back in 2015. I would love to get back to that place that I was at with GOD. I have failed to do so. In my efford to know what GOD would like me to do that I would get to do for him I started up a blog of my own. Well I did have one but I have not put any posts on it in years and I had forgotten the password. I feel if I show my blog to you that you may see me as a terible Christian as I know you have mentioned other blogs and mainly negative things are said, not to judge you and I apologize, you are a better person then I am. Any way I know how deperatly we need Jesus and to spend time with him. I think I need to spend more time with GOD.

I need to admit that was a bit shocked as I read your reply to me here. 🙄 Neither have I ever thought you were a terrible Christian (I cannot imagine having suggested such a thing on my blog about anyone, either) nor have I changed my good opinion about you after having read your blog. I don’t know whether you are going to moderate the comment I just posted on your last article, but if so, here is the link.

I recall how often during the last ten years I thought about ‘better’ and more joyful times with God in the past also. Suffering and trials are never fun and the wilderness might last for a long time, too. That does not sound encouraging, I know, but we need to face the truth if we want to go on with Him. Also, I remember that there was an author who said that God will finally come to us and save us out of all our messes by revealing Himself as He really is when we do not expect Him to do so any longer. It seems to me that this is true (I guess it was John of the Cross who wrote that). Nonetheless, God surprises us at times because He lures His bride in the wilderness. We will delight in some joyful and restful times in the desert, too!

Susanne, now that I have a free moment, I read your latest blog article again and thought I would add a bit more to what I said earlier. You wrote, “Christianity is a religion where people talk a lot, whether it is the preacher, the teacher, the theologian, or the Christian blogger… 😉 Yet we should remember that “the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20 ESV)

As I have said in the past “Jesus is a man of few words” and He should be our example if we are abiding IN Him. I, like you, tire quickly when reading a blog article that goes on for pages without saying anything of any eternal value. The same is true when I have to attend a family gathering in which the topic of conversation has nothing to do with those things which are eternal IN Christ! Like Jesus said when his mother and siblings were outside of the house He was in waiting for Him to come out and see Him, “Who is my mother and brother and sister? Those who do the will of my Father is my mother and brother and sister.”

I find that even when I “fellowship” with someone that I have known in the Spirit and the Spirit does not seem to be in our conversation, it is better not to try and make it happen, but to WAIT on Him! Religion is all about trying to make something happen “for God” or to capture the attention of the masses with our word and deeds. It reminds me of the following story in the Old Testament…

And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. (1Sam 15:22-24, ESV2011)

You are very welcome, Michael. I could not agree more as to everything you said here.

What hit me somehow was this part of the Scripture you shared where sin is perfectly explained as transgressing God’s commandments/word/leading by submitting to people out of the fear of man. So sad. 🙁

I am not much better then King Saul there.
I am reminded of a pastor that I do not follow any more nor have much contact with. I am not going to name his name how ever he has said things like ” If you obey me you are obeying GOD”. I have been chastened for doing what he has asked. I still feel guilty about not going to his bible study. I get an invite to it every week. I don’t reply to the invite I just don’t go. Last time it was held I just spent that time with GOD or tried to any way.

BY the way I added a subscription thing to my blog so you can see new posts.

I believe there is a demon involved here. If I was you, I would block these invitations with which this evil “imitating-God-spirit” comes at you again and again. Every week there is a ‘spiritual’ revival with which he tries to manipulate your conscience! We need to draw clear lines with the devil as we try to obey God more often. May God give you the power to resist the devil, my brother!

I have much more that I got out of your latest blog, dear sister, but too much to write it all on a blog comment. Check your in box. This TRULY has been an inspired and life changing blog article for me!!! 🕊⭐⭐⭐🕊

I needed to read this today. My life these last few months has been a far cry from the deep truths you talk about here. I seemed to have lost even the longing for it. Spiritual depression and discouragement which allows apathy and indifference to slowly creep in until you are bound into sin. I know that process too well, and it seems that still this little sheep is unable to see it coming and avoid falling into the deep pit once again. But the Lord is still very able to forgive this clumsy, stiff-necked, ignorant sheep and restore her because HE has not changed and HIS promises are still true and available even if I seem to temporarily be too foolish to either believe them or even want them!

And it grieves me to say in spite of all these years where God has been teaching me faithfully and dealing with my soul, I still find myself in the same old places and sort of remembering Egypt’s food with a bit of nostalgia. It usually takes an unsolvable situation to bring me to a place of REALLY crying to God for deliverance. And every time, I find that He is faithful, when I have been faithless and disloyal.

On the personal side, this year has brought a huge blessing that was totally unexpected. I wish my spiritual life had been stronger to fully enjoy the gift. Finally, after six years of prayer and many, many tears, God has sent the little brother for Samuel. I’m currently on my 34th week of pregnancy, and it seems God’s name for our boy will be Ezekiel. But God caught my attention with gestational hypertension, which has led to impaired circulation in the womb and growth restrictions in the baby. Medically speaking, the situation is irreversible and if it worsens, I will need a C-section next week. But God has been reminding me of one very irreversible situation of a young man who was four days dead and stinking. What can be more irreversible than that? And yet, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. If He has the power to bring decomposing bodies back from death, and quicken us to life when we’re spiritually dead (which is no less of a miracle!), of course HE is master over ANY and ALL situations we may experience, including the perfect human body HE designed and can “adjust” at any moment so that what was not working will begin to work perfectly in a split second.

So, yes, dear sister, we can fully trust in HIS faithfulness, we can fully believe and rely on HIS promise, because even when we fail Him and are at times shamefully far from Christ-likeness, He will not cease His sanctification work in us. We may resist Him and delay His plans with our stubbornness, but He sure knows how to use His shepherd’s rod!

I pray that God will bless you abundantly with lots of wisdom, so you can continue sharing the life of the spirit that is in you, with many or very few words.

I needed to read your comment today! It was so encouraging for me that you weighed in on this issue and how you did it. Furthermore, I was thinking about you often and were wondering where you had been all the time. So I simply prayed when your name/face popped up in my mind. I assumed you had to go through a very dry time, but I was happy to hear that God will bless you with a brother for Samuel! 🙂 I will be praying that everything will go well with you and him, next week or later. Do not worry, He loves you all very much! 💗💗💗💗

I long to see the power 1 Cor 4:20 has been speaking about, too! 😀

Whenever I sense His leading to write something He has revealed to me, I will post it on here, for sure. Your response was very edifying for me today, my sister!

I’m very glad I was able to encourage you with my comment. I will let you know how our baby’s situation evolves.

The last couple of days have been a mix of good and bad surprises. God has provided the crib, the stroller and car seat and two bags of clothes for our newborn, at a time when we couldn’t afford any of this. We got the clothes from a friend of a friend who hardly knows us. A stark contrast with my in-laws, who have given us the cold shoulder and shown hardly any interest in the new grandson. The Lord has told us it’s time to let them go and move on without expecting anything from them. My husband is now unemployed (he was working for his dad, but without a formal salary, only help with my son’s school fees), and I won’t have any salary during my pregnancy leave. Our savings could perhaps last a couple of months, so our financial situation is tough. But God has already proved to us that some way or another, He will provide for our needs. We’ll need to exercise faith that some door will open for my husband.

God’s dealings with us can be hard. But He’s talked to our hearts through Isaiah 41 and Psalm 37. Sometimes we fret over a little piece of something, when we will one day inherit the earth. He’s promised to never forsake us, to always support us and be our greatest treasure and our inheritance. If we are in His hands, we’re in the best place we can be.

Thank you, sis! When trials tend to repeat themselves, it is likely that there’s still a lesson we didn’t quite learn before, or the learning has to go deeper. We need to pray for endurance and peace in the midst of the storm, and, above all things, wisdom, because right now we don’t really know what to do about our job situation. Perhaps it’s just a Be still and know that I am God moment. Perhaps we should really focus on praying together and just resting in Him as we wait for the imminent baby’s coming. At least I don’t think this is the time for my husband to go frantically looking at job ads. Not until he gets clear directions on this.
What is clear to me is that Ezekiel came because God chose to send him. And it was in His timing. And His timing is always best than our best-laid plans. So we can be sure that, together with the baby, provision will be coming. We’ve been married for 13 1/2 years, and since 2004 we’ve been in financial difficulty and job issues at several points, but we never ever went hungry.
My cousin was in dire straits during her pregnancy four years ago. I gave her a lot of baby stuff, and now her finances are better and she bought a great crib for us. All the basics are covered. God has a wonderful way of using us to bless others, and when we need help, He makes sure to get it for us. 🙂
I really appreciate your prayers and kind thoughts for us!

Dear sis,
I just wanted to share the news on my baby. He was born on March 12, at 35 gestation weeks. The birth itself was great. I had a very quick labor, most of which was in my husband’s car!, and when I arrived at the clinic, the baby’s head was already visible. I told the midwife I had indications for a C-section. She said, forget it, the baby is too far down!, which is great because we had been praying for natural birth. Total labor was less than two hours.
Now the sad part: being a small, premature baby, he had to be placed in an incubator, and unfortunately his lungs were not fully developed, and he needed a ventilator for the first four days of his life, which doctors tried to remove twice and had to put back in. Finally, on Thursday evening his breathing parameters were much better, and the ventilator could be removed successfully.
He’s still on the incubator 24/7. I haven’t been able to hold him yet. I’m seeing slow but steady improvements, for example yesterday he opened his eyes a lot and tried to look at me, and he cried several times.
This has been a through the fire experience. There were moments when I prayed and cried my heart out because the prognosis was uncertain and death was a very real possibility (though the doctors didn’t mention it explicitly, they just used words such as “serious” and “grey” to refer to the situation). Seeing my little son through a box is very painful, and it was worse when he was only sleeping and showed little or no reaction to my caresses. Needless to say, God has used this situation to bring me closer to Him. To Him all the glory, though His dealings with us can be so tough!
Now I’m still praying (and worrying, I’m a mother) for God to deliver my son from any bacteria or virus that tries to attack his little body. If nothing of the sort happens, he’s likely to continue to improve every day. I’m hopeful and know I need to be very patient. God has shown us several signs that He’s in full control of this and will bring us through.
May the Lord bless you, your family and your readers.

I am relieved to hear that the birth itself went well, my sister! Yet I can only imagine what horror you have had to go through and how very hard it must be for you to only look at your boy and not being able to hold him!!!

The only things I can say are firstly congratulations on the birth of Ezechiel (?) to you, your hubby and Samuel plus secondly that I will keep praying for your little(st) one that God might protect him from ANY bacteria or virus so that you can hold and cuddle him soon!

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3:16-17 ESV)

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